Territory



2 Sheets Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

J. B. CRUCIAL.

WELL SINKING MACHINE.

Patented. Dec. 23, 1884.

2 SheetsSheet; 2.

(No Model.)

J. B. CRUCIAL.

WELBSINKING MACHINE.

Patented Dec. 23, 1884. I

N. PETER; Phom-Lllhogrnyllnr. Waslmlgln. D c.

llNrTEn STATES PATENT Fries.

JAMES B. CRUCIAL, OF FARGO, DAKOTA TERRITORY.

WELL-SINKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,769, dated December 23, 1884.

Application filed May 28, 1884.

(N0 model.)

citizen of the United States, residing at Fargo, in the county of Cass, Territory of Dakota, have invented a new and useful Well Sinking Machinawhich I denominate The Mole XVell Perforator, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is that of a machine for sinking Artesian and other wells, in which a metallic pipe is sunk vertically into the ground.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide aforce,by the application of the screw, for perforating the ground to a desirable depth, and for simultaneously carrying a metallic pipe into the hole, second, to enlarge thelower end of the pipe after it has been deposited in the ground, so as to form a reservoir at the bottom of the well, thereby increasing thehydrostatic pressure on the ascending column of water; third, to provide a point of resistance for the screw, by the application of the pile, against which it acts when forcing a drivingshaft and pipe into the ground.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine; Fig. 2, a vertical section through the center; Fig. 3, an enlarged section at M, Fig. 2; Fig. 4, avertical section through the same; Fig. 5, a horizontal plan of piles, Fig. 6, a vertical section of shaft and pipe.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The platform A, Fig, 1, is made of wood, and covered, top and bottom, with boilerplate. An eye through its center permits the pipe to pass through it. The platform is connected by posts F F, Figs. 1 and 2, to corresponding bearings in arms L of a hub at the top of the frame. These posts are grooved longitudinally on theirinner surfaces to admit the ends of the guide-arms O 0, Figs. 1 and 2. On the outside is a longitudinal spine,serrated externally, and designed to act as a bearing for the block (I, Fig. 2. At the top of the frame, arms L L, Figs. 1 and 2, radiate from a central hub. Their ends are securely attached to the posts. The braces H H, Fig. 2, are secured at their lower ends to the platform, at their upper ends to the arms L L, and at the middle to piles driven into the ground for the purpose. Be it known that I, JAMEs B. CRUCIAL, a frame of the machine.

The above parts constitute the plex, consisting of a primary bolt, P, and matrix D, Figs. 1, 3, and 4. The primary bolt is tapered from the point of its greatest diameter downward to ablunt point, and upward to its junction with the driving shaft, to which it is attached by a screw-joint. Its central diameter is greater than that of the shaft. The matrix has the form of two truncated cones with their bases united with a short cylinder. It is made in longitudinal sections with close joints from its lower end upward to the point Y, Fig. 1. Here the close joints are widened into slots, which are continuous to near the coupling of the matrix with the pipe. At this point the slots end in enlarged holes. The sections are united above the holes and form a cylinder. This cylinder is attached to the pipe by a sleeve-joint. Thus it will be seen that the primary bolt is an end attachment to the driving-shaft and the matrixacorresponding attachment to the pipe. The free ends of the sections of the matrix impinge upon and are exactly fitted to the upper tapering surface of the primary bolt. These sections, from the upper end of the bolt to the cylindrical part of the matrix, rest on and are closely fitted to the lower end of the driving-shaft. Here they have a common shoulder, into which a flange of the driving-shaft fits with an acute angle. The inner diameter of the matrix enlarges from this shoulder upward to the holes above the slots.

The object in making the matrix in longi- The perforator is comtudinal sections is to enable the primary bolt to flex the sections outward, thereby enlarging the caliber of the matrix, so that the bolt may be withdrawn, as illustrated by'the dotted lines, Fig. 4.

The object in widening the close joints of the matrix into slots from the point Y, Fig. 1, upward is to permit water to pass into the pipe when it is being driven into the ground.

The object of the holes at the upper end of the slots is to lessen the width of the sections between the holes, so that they are more easily flexed outward by action of the primary bolt when it is being withdrawn. The primary bolt is made of steel, the matrix of malleable iron. This permits the sections to suspends the hub and the guide-arms.

ders them non-resilient. \Vhen expanded the sections serve the double purpose of enlarging the bottom of the well into a small reservoir and of protecting the inlet of the pipe. The primary bolt is to be withdrawn when a desirable depth is reached. The matrix is to remain permanently in the ground. The driving-shaft is made in sections which are united by screw-joints. The lower end of each section is enlarged to give attachment to a number of spurs or braces. Slots are cut through this enlargement, and the braces are united to the shaft by hinged joints. The hinges permit the braces to be expanded outward and downward to an angle of forty-five degrees to the shaft. The pipe inclosing the shaft is the opposing ends are not brought together by the sleeve. Aspace isleft wide enough to admit a bearing for the free ends of the braces on the end of the lower section of the pipe. This device is illustrated by Fig. 6, wherein V represents the braces. The objects of this device are to keep the shaft in a central position within the pipe, and to provide bearing for the shaft on the pipe, additional to the flange shown at the lower end of the shaft.

In Figs. 1 and 2 short sections of the shaft and of the pipe are shown between C and S. These short sections are not absolutely necessary, as they add no strength to shaft or pipe. They simply facilitate the handling of the shaft withoutinjury to the braces. The braces hang below the end of the section of the shaft, to which they are attached when it is uncoupled, and hence are not liable to injury. The driving-screw J, Figs. 1 and 2, near its inferior end loses its thread, and is changed from a circular form to a square or angular shape. Below this square is the tap, which is screwed into the upper section of the drivingshaft. The guide-arms O 0, Figs. 1 and 2, are attached to a central hub, N. Their free ends move up and. down in the grooves of the posts F. F.

The central hub is perforated with an eye which fits around the squared part of the shaftscrew. At the top of the hub this eye is converted from an angular to a circular form. In other words, the top of the hub is provided with a cap which has a circular eye that admits the threaded part of the screw. This cap rests on the shoulders of the square part and The lower end of the hub is elongated in the form of a cylinder of the exact diameter of the pipe, to which it is coupled by a sleeve. The pipe is in this manner suspended from the hub. The cap and cylinder are perforated with holes to announce the presence of water when it rises to this point.

The objects of the guide-arms and their central hub are, first, to prevent the screw-shaft from revolving when moving upward or down ward; second, to couple the driving-shaft to the pipe; third, to prevent the pipe from slipping down and forcing the matrix over the primary bolt, as it would otherwise be liable to do when passing through a stratum of quicksancl. It will be borne in mind that the complex perforator makes a hole of larger diameter than that of the pipe which it carries. Hence the weight of the pipe,with little or no friction on its external surface, would readily displace the relative positions of the primary bolt and matrix were it not suspended from some point above. I choose to effect this by coupling it with the hub, as shown. Then a section of the pipe has been forced into the ground and it becomes necessary to uncouple it from the hub, the same accident would occur as if the perforator were passing unobstructed through a stratum of quicksand. The device shown at N, Fig. 1, obviates this danger. The device is a dual plate with a hinged joint at one end, and when closed has an eye of the exact external diameter of the pipe. When the pipe is forced down so that the flange f, Figs. 1 and 2, rests on the dual plate, the two blades of the plate are then clasped, as shown, and the pipe is effectually suspended. The plate may be unclasped, as shown by the dotted lines, when it is necessary for the pipe to move on. At the top of theframe the central hub, K, Fig. 2,from which the arms L L radiate, admits the cylinder T through it. The cylinder is enlarged by an annular flange, 1?, around its lower end,which bears directly on the lower end of the hub. Above the hub the cylinder is threaded to admit a nut. 3, which is screwed down to a bearing on it. The outside of this nut is in the form of an octagon, and fits into the eye of the hub of the driving-wheel I, Figs. 1 and 2. Displacement of the relative positions of these parts is prevented by set-screws between the arms of the wheel. The inner surface of the cylinder is threaded through its entire length, and acts as an elongated nut to the driving screw. Through the action of this nut the screw is raised or lowered at pleasure. The drivingwheel I, Figs. 1 and 2, is cogged, and-may be geared to horse or steam power. screwshaft is moving downward by the action of the driving-wheel and its elongated nut, the lower flange of the nut is resisted by the lower end of the hub. The pressure is communicated to the frame, thence through the braces H II to the piles g. The piles thus become the ultimate point of resistance against which the screw acts when forcing the perforator into the ground. \Vhen the drivingshaft is being withdrawn from the pipe, the action of the driving-wheel is reversed. The upper flange of the elongated nut then acts against the upper end of the hub. The downward pressure is communicated by the frame, through the braces H H, to the piles g 9. Thus the piles become the point of resistance against which both the upward and downward pressure of the screw acts. a

Long piles are driven into the ground in hen thel and fixed by set-screws.

sets and securely braced and bolted together, substantially as illustrated by Fig. of the drawings. The number of piles in each set may beincreased indefinitely, if so braced and bolted together, as shown in Fig. 5, that they cannot be forced out of the ground individually without raising all. The number of sets is regulated by the number of posts.

The machine is operated as follows: The perforator is coupled to the driving-shaft and to the pipe, respectively, as described, and placed in position. The driving-screw carrying the guide'arms is lowered until its inferior end is in contact with the shaft. The guidearms are then raised sufficiently to allow the screw to revolve. The tap of the screw is screwed into the end of the dri 'ing-shaft. The guide-arms arelowered until theh ub embraces the angular part ofthe screw. The hub is now coupled to the pipe. When the drivingwheel is put in motion, the screw steadily forces the perforator into the ground. In passing downward the perforator may strike a rock, which would arrest its further progress. In that case the shaft and pipe may be withdrawn; but when no iusuperable obstacle is met and the pipe has been sunk to a desirable depth, the driving-shaft, bringing with it the primary bolt, is to be withdrawn, leaving the pipe, with its terminal matrix expanded, as a permanent fixture in the ground. In dilating the matrix the upward and lateral pressure of the primary bolt would lift pipe with the shaft, were it not kept in position by some effective means. The following device overcomes the difficulty: The longitudinal serrated spine on the outer surface of the posts F F, Fig. 3, is fitted with a slot-ted block, d. It is held in position by clasps around the posts Iron rods 00, separated at one end into two shanks wide enough to embrace the post, are bolted to the blocks. The other ends of the rods are provided with eyes, which couple them with hooks attached to the sleeve at the upper end of the pipe.

The block and rod are in position only during the dilatation of the matrix, and are to be removed as soon as this is accomplished.

In uncoupling each section of the shaft when it is raised from the pipe, it is necessary to support the yet undelivered part until the screw can again be coupled to it. The device shown at N, Fig. 1, is employed at the top of the pipe. The. blades of the dual plate are clasped around the shaft just under the flange t, Fig. 6. The plate rests on the end of the pipe and suspends the shaft.

I claim as my invention 1. In a machine for sinking Artesian and other wells, the driving-shaft with a nut supported in a suitable frame, and means for rotating the nut, a pipe inclosing the drivingshaft and connected thereto, and ,a suitable bolt on the end of the shaft, whereby the earth is perforated and the tube carried down,

all substantially as described.

2. In a well-sinking machine, a drivingshaft, an enlarged primary bolt having a double taper carried upon the lower end of the shaft, a pipe inclosing the shaft, having a 7c matrix atits lower end slitted and adapted to be spread when the bolt is withdrawn, thereby forming an enlarged chamber at the bottom, all substantially as described.

3. In a well-sinking machine, in combina tion, the driving screw and shaft, the hub m, with its arms moving in guides, the hub-extension adapted to be connected to the pipe, and means for connecting the driving-shaft to the pipe, all substantially as described.

4. In a well-sinking machine, a drivingshaft, a primary bolt, 1?, fitting a double-taper matrix D, formed in longitudinal section with open slots, the free ends of the sections impinging upon the upper tapering surface of 85 the primary bolt, a flange, and shoulder-connections between the driving-shaft and the matrix, all substantially as described.

5. The matrix D, formed of longitudinal sections, having an interior cylindrical surface adapted to bear upon the shaft, and

shoulders adapted to be flanged upon by the shaft, and the lower edge combined with the double-incline primary bolt, all substantially as described.

6. In combination with the pipe and the driving-shaft within the pipe, both formed in sections united as described, the spurs or braces flexibly united with collar on shaft, and adapted to bear upon the pipe, all substanroo tially as described.

7. The central hub having arms moving in guides provided with an eye fitted to the square part of the screw-shaft, and a cap with a circular eye fitted to admit the threaded partof the screw-shaft, and suspending the hub and guide-arms from the square part, and the hub-extension adapted to be connected to the pipe, substantially as described.

8. An elongated nut having flange Pbearing on the lower end of the hub, a nut, 3, and a driving-wheel connected rigidly to the elon I gated nut, all substantially as described.

9. In combination with the post F, the serrated spines, the blccks d, fitted thereto, the rods :0 00, connected to the sleeve, the driving shaft, and the tube, all substantially as described.

10. In a well-sinking machine, a frame consisting of a bottom, A, posts and hub with arms L L, in combination with means for'holding said frame, and with nut and screw-shaft of the driving-shaft, substantially as described.

11. In combination with the frame and the driving-screw, the shaft-piles g and braces H, all substantially as described.

.In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES B. CRUCIAL.

lVitnesses: WILLIAM C. RESSER, J. D. WHITE. 

